Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz

Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz' (December 5, 1875—October 21, 1956) was the father of Cuban leaders Fidel and Raúl Castro. Angel Castro had two children by his first wife and six more children, including Fidel, by his cook, Lina Ruz González. According to Castañeda Katiuska, [1] By 1941 Ángel Castro had fathered five children with his first wife Maria Luisa Argota. These were: Pedro, María Lilia, Antonia María Dolores, Georgina de la Caridad and Manuel, only first two survived to date of this naturalization document (January 2nd 1941). Fidel is not mentioned, this demonstrates that Fidel Castro was born out of wedlock and was still unrecognized at age 13. Raul Castro (although commonly believed not to be a son of Angel, but that of Felipe Miraval, a Batista army loyalist knicknamed "el Chino")[5] is also not mentioned although he would be about eight at this time.

Of additional interest according to Castañeda Katiusk, Angel Castro is said to have arrived in Cuba the third or fourth of March 1899. There is no mention of military service in the Spanish Armed forces in Cuba prior to this date. Yet other biographies do mention this [2][3]

According to his eldest son, Ramón, Ángel Castro arrived in Cuba as a Spanish army conscript from Galicia in Spain. Juanita Castro, Ángel's daughter, has contradicted this claim to assert that their father was merely an economic migrant to Cuba.[4] Following the defeat of Spain, Ángel Castro stayed. During the Cuban Republic, he prospered while farming [5]in the northern part of what was then Oriente province[6], [7].

Castro y Argiz died in the town of Birán, 42 days before Castro landed in Los Cayuelos on December 2, 1956. He died of an intestinal hemorrhage at the age of 80 -- precisely the age at which Castro became gravely ill with a similar affliction. Castro is said to have received the news in stoic silence [8].

↑Various authors have said Ángel Castro was a Spanish soldier, of Galician origins, who fought against the Mambi independence fighters (Geyer, 2002; Fuentes, 2004).

↑Some authors have gone so far as to state Ángel Castro was part of a group of Valeriano Weyler's [1], [2] soldiers (Guerrilleros) who participated in the surprise attack that killed Mambi general Antonio Maceo[3]. However, there is little doubt that Weyler employed "rough tactics" for he is best known for his policy of "reconcentracion" in which up to 400,000 died of disease and starvation [4]

↑It is said that this prosperity was due in part to harsh treatment of his mostly Haitian workers, and various illegal exploits. Although perhaps slightly inaccurate in detail, there is a vivid description of late 1920s life, especially in reference to the plight of Haitian contract labor, at Antilla and Banes in Bancroft (1983-pp.36-44).

Sources cited in References

Bancroft, Mary 1983. Autobiography of a spy. William Morrow and Company. Inc. New York. ISBN 0688020194